GOGD at winterland!!5 gold stars.

Every bit of this that survives is just fierce. With the Airplane and Quicksilver both in the house, a shootout at the BGP Corral was bound to be. And when the smoke cleared ... the Pigpen Gang was stills standing.

It's a shame we don't have the whole of the Lovelight > NFA > Lovelight, which goes some unique and amazing places. Fortunately the Dancin, which is also amazing, is only missing a little at the end. I'm wondering if it segued directly into Lovelight. When the Lovelight picks up they are rolling along in high gear, and yet they haven't reached the first vocals yet ... "Without a warning ..." Lucky souls at Winterland that Wednesday.

Who the "guests" might be is beyond me. I figured I'd hear Cipollina, who was probably the most frequent person to sit in with the Dead occassionally up till his passing in early '89. But I can't make him out, or Jorma, or anyone else recognizeable.

Some great Grateful Dead, in any case.

Like most shows from this period it's one long set. And like many of these, due to the way tapes traded we didn't know the correct set list order until decades later! This was a Winterland one-off in between a Fillmore West run (with Miles Davis), and a run at the Family Dog, for 8-in-a-row in San Fran (the last time that would happen until '80). There's a guest musician in places; likely somebody from Airplane or Quicksilver. Given the fragmentary nature of the SBD (patches on the official release were flown in from 4 other dates - more than any other OFF show) and that it wasn't the best unreleased show from '70, it was sort of an odd pick for 30 Trips.

Consistently above average versions form the top half. China Cat is patched on 30 Trips (starting at 5: 01, to 1: 37 in Rider) with the tranny from 3/1 @ Family Dog, to make up for the gap on the SBD. They played Man's World (a chart-topper for James Brown in '66) 4 times in the middle of '70, though this may be the best one, even if they hadn't settled on the ending yet. Candyman is only the 6th one but works, not because it's the most technically perfect version (it's still partially developed), but because the whole is greater than the parts. Hard to Handle is cut (and patched on the OFF with 5/15). Cumberland is always good in '70 but the 24min Other One suite is the meat of the show. The jam after Drums is core Dead - playing to see if a new song emerges from the ether (it's said that's not Pig on congas?). There are change-ups through the rest from Jer and a sweet drop back into Cryptical, which is treated quietly, slowly winding down - perfectly - into a Dire Wolf. The end of Dancing is cut (the OFF switches to 4/12 @10:05). It heats up 5 mins in and has a tight Tighten Up, followed by a unique section led by Jer, using figures from Cosmic Charlie. This leads them to a place where they have to find the way back. The cut also clips the beginning of Lovelight (the OFF uses 1/16 from Springer's Ballroom/Gresham, rejoining the SBD @40secs), a version that offers a bit more than you get from most spring '70s. Not Fade is short, uptempo, with nice Bobby/rhythm. Jer bails back into Lovelight, but this time you had to be there.

Overall = B-    3½ stars

Highlights:
It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World - top version, as far as that goes for the Dead covering Mr. Dynamite
Candyman - great, in the original arrangement
Cryptical>Other One - they got into it this night
Dancing in the Streets - adventurous for a Dancin'

SOURCES: Candyman is a bonus track on American Beauty. Dancing in the Street is on Definitive Live Story. The circulating SBD is incomplete (but otherwise finely represented on the latvala-eaton-wise). It's also not complete on 30 Trips Around the Sun, but almost is if you combine the two...

Straight up, hard rockin' Good Ol' Grateful Dead. Don't get much better.

But
Cryptical Envelopment -> Drums -> Jam -> Drums -> The Other One -> Cryptical Envelopment
is just "Thats It For The Other One"

Love these crisp 1970 Soundboards! This is the type of stuff that's referred to as "Good Old Grateful Dead"

Absolutely brilliant, and these spring of 1970 shows are consistently proving to be out-and-out motherfuckers.

Much has already been written about this great show (60 raving reviews between the previous two uploads to the Archive, this being the third upload).

Setting aside the occasional cut(s) in the tape(s), the versions of all the songs performed here are noteworthy. And the sound quality is crazy good. The ride from Cryptical to the conclusion is an hour of Grateful Dead righteousness that is up there with anything else on the Archive.